Monthly Archives: November 2015

The story of Gunslinger Stratos revolves around a group of gunslingers, well 2 groups to be precise since there are 2 universes and they each have a doppleganger in the other universe. The 2 universes are Frontier S and the 17th Far East Imperial City Management District. Frontier S is an outlaw universe where it’s basically every man for himself. The 17th Far East is a totalitarian universe with no freedom and is under constant surveillance. An issue is causing the universes to collapse into each other and the governments from each side sends in their team back to 2015, thinking that taking out the team from the other side will stop the impending destruction. Continue reading

Wow, this has been a weak season of anime hasn’t it? I almost never drop a show even if it’s bad. I usually watch them through so I can post thoughts and have a point of reference in conversation. Or maybe some shows get better later, which has happened before. Some shows do a slow burn for 6-7 episodes and then crank it up like Seraph of the End did which is now one of my favorite shows.

This season has brought on a lot of weak shows and a lot of the short ones too. I usually watch the short ones but this season has a bunch of bad ones that just didn’t catch my eye at all. Another thing that is bothering me with this season is this new term which I guess is popular in Japan? There are characters ending sentences with “I think”. Now this could be a translation issue but it’s not like it’s one show, it’s a few of them. It’s used in some awkward ways, like “I’m going to kill that guy, I think”. Not exactly that but close enough.

This is the type of stuff that had me stop watching for a while. During that time though, I did miss a lot of good ones. Maybe it let me appreciate it more by being away from it?

Shows I’m Still Watching

(Note: This does not mean the show is good but I am watching)

Since I already mentioned Seraph of the End, let’s start there. Season 2 starts off exactly where season 1 ended and it’s a very good starting point. I don’t want to give any spoilers but there are new characters and a consistent plot from the first season. You get a little more personal with some of the characters and learn a bit about their background. If you liked the first season then you won’t be disappointed. The Broadcast Dubs have started for this season and as usual, Funimation has done a good job with this.

Gundam is already greenlit for 25 episodes so no worries about a chopped up story or a rush job. The show is solid, all the way around. This is my favorite of the season and stands far ahead of everything else with Owarimonogatari and Seraph rounding out my top 3. Something is lacking in this season and Gundam is it’s savior.

Comet Lucifer is a decent show but I have mixed feelings about it because the characters in it. It does kind of remind me of a Gurren Lagaan type of show with the mix of characters from serious to cutesy. There is still a lot of mecha action mixed in so it doesn’t try to be something it’s not, it’s just some of the characters feel out of place for me. This is anime so anything goes and I guess for me some of them don’t click but it happens. Still like the show for the most part. Continue reading

Riddle Story of Devil is a classroom assassination type show which takes place at Myoujou Academy, a private girls school. 13 girls are transferred into the school’s 10th year Class Black. Of the 13 girls there are 12 assassins and one who is a target. If one of the 12 assassins kills the target then they are granted a wish, whatever it may be. If they fail then they’re expelled from Class Black. One of the assassins, Tokaku Azuma start to develop feelings for the target, Haru Ichinose and becomes her protector which changes things to an 11 on 2 situation. This makes for an interesting turn of events.

Assassins and classrooms seem to make for some really good shows, at least I think so anyway. The one thing that brings it all together though is the characters. This show has a nice array of characters. The two leads are just about perfect in Japanese and English. Continue reading

So I get this job to tile a kitchen and hallway. As things progressed, he adds 2 bathrooms and a 1/2 bath. So the 4 day job becomes 2 weeks. While this was going on, the house was on the market but the guy wasn’t expecting it to sell. Out of the blue his realtor calls and says he has someone who wants to see the house. We’re working on the premise that the house isn’t going to sell but then guess what happened? The person who came loved my tilework and now an offer is coming and it may be one that the guy considers.

He’s planning to buy a foreclosure that needs work and wants to use me for that too since he can trust me with his house, keys, credit cards, dog and all that. It helps to be a trustworthy contractor.

Looks like this week I get to do some mechanic stuff since I want to change out parts on my Expedition, some manga writing so I can get this Kickstarter thing going, work on Astra Etherium a bit, finish some blog entries I drafted up, keep plotting to take over the world…the usual.

The story revolves around a phenomenon known as “Hell’s Gate”. Hell’s Gate is a impenetrable field which appeared 10 years ago. At the same time these psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. These people are covert agents known as Contractors, they’re assassins, spies and other covert type agents who carry out dirty work and seemingly now lack a human conscience though they are indeed human. They thrive in the underworld and their loyalty is always in question because of their line of work. One of the Contractors is Hei, probably the most powerful and feared Contractor, along with his blind assistant Yin, works for one of the agencies trying to unlock the mystery of the Gate, while also trying to stay alive. Continue reading

In this 2nd season of Darker, you find Hei and Yin are on the run after being betrayed by the Syndicate. After leaving Japan, Hei ventures to Russia and comes across a young girl who becomes part of a conflict unknowingly, between different factions and Contractors fighting for power. He saves her from the ones fighting over her and she becomes his apprentice. But as we find out, Hei in his current condition is not the best teacher. Continue reading

Darker than Black: Gaiden is seen as a 3rd season by a lot of people and they have plenty of reason to think that since it came out after the 2nd season. If you’ve watched Darker than Black, these OVAs are essential in the storyline, they aren’t your typical OVAs of recent vintage which are mostly hot springs and beach episodes.

These 4 episodes fill in the giant gaping plot hole gap between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 seems almost as if it’s a different timeline without these 4 episodes. Any questions that were left unanswered with that 2nd season are answered here. The story revolves around Hei and Yin exclusively. They have left Tokyo and are on the run from the Syndicate and others. In these OVAs, you get to learn more about Hei and Yin and their relationship with each other while their on the run from the groups after them. Continue reading

So I’m getting a lot of writing done lately and I think it may be close to time to get a Kickstarter prepped and ready. I have to figure out the rewards and all that but what would people want for an unproven commodity? Bookmarks? Stickers? Extra art? I figure those would be included but what about figures or something? Have to have a plan and execute the plan to perfection.

I did want to include an anthology type thing but the first person I approached didn’t even get back to me. There are a few others I thought of asking but after that first one I may scrap the idea. I figured it was a chance for people to have their stuff printed and have something thy can show off or say “look I’m published”. Maybe I was wrong though…

Also debating if I should have some art done that’s just so people can read some of the content but it’s not finished art, something where I can post like 5 pages a week on a separate site (probably here), then have finished art on the Kickstarter page so people get a taste of the finished product. The artist I picked does all digital though so there won’t be sketches and all that to post.

I really just want this to go off without a hitch the first time and not have to try again. Plus it would show that there are people out there who want the book. Would hate to do all this work and then no one wants it but the people who have read the script so far have said they liked it. They could be lying but I hope not.